Britney Spears' Reported 'Manic' Episode Stirs Headlines in Hollywood, But Husband Hits Back
Reports of an emotional meltdown by singing star Britney Spears might have had fans concerned for her well-being, but Spears’ husband has gone public with a far different account.
According to initial reporting by the celebrity-centric news site TMZ, Spears was dining Friday with her husband, Sam Ashgari, at the JOEY restaurant in Los Angeles’ Woodland Hills when the incident took place.
Spears became “manic,” and was speaking “gibberish,” some patrons told TMZ. The TMZ account claimed Asghari left the restaurant in the midst of Spears’ behavior.
Britney Spears allegedly caused a scene Friday night at an L.A. restaurant, according to eyewitnesses Spears had a bizarre meltdown, prompting her husband Sam Asghari to storm out. (TMZ)
Eyewitnesses say Britney became “manic,” yelling and talking gibberish. pic.twitter.com/WSpqPzKOgf
— Pop Faction (@PopFactions) January 14, 2023
At one point, Spears covered her face with a black restaurant menu — apparently in reaction to a spectator’s phone camera.
Spears herself left the restaurant two minutes after her husband, with a bodyguard returning to pay the bill.
However, subsequent information casts doubt on initial reports of a “meltdown.”
Asghari shared his side of the story after TMZ publicized the dinner.
In an interview Monday (video below), Spears’ husband claimed he was merely getting the couples’ vehicle as they prepared to leave the restaurant — frustrated with a deluge of fans recording their every move.
“When you sit down to have a meal and people get their cameras and start filming you… It’s disrespectful.”
“Fame comes with the territory… And that’s it.”
Sam Asghari shouldn’t be talking to #that media outlet but it seems like he’s just playing the game. At least he’s protecting Britney from a PR standpoint, while her business manager Cade and attorney Rosengart do nothing. He clarified that people were being disrespectful. pic.twitter.com/3r4cIE2ZwR
— Moon ✧ Chalice (@MoonChalice_) January 16, 2023
In addition, a restaurant employee told the New York Post’s Page Six that Spears was being treated rudely by another diner who insisted on recording her.
“The disruptor wasn’t Britney — it was the diner who taunted her by taking a video without consent,” the employee said, according to Page Six.
Asghari also posted an Instagram story urging fans not to believe what they read about the celebrity couple, according to Page Six.
In an oddly worded Instagram post on Monday that sometimes veered into incoherence, Spears admitted to being “a little drunk at a restaurant” but accused the “news” of “WATCHING MY EVERY MOVE 👀 !!!”
“I’m so flattered they talk about me like a maniac THEN have the balls to talk about all the negative things that happened in my past !!! Honestly it would be safer for me to compliment this world and f*ck up because if I become a prophet and don’t create history, we might have something y’all… I’m just KIDDING, but it’s a good thought,” she wrote.
Spears was freed from a legal conservatorship in late 2021, achieving control over her $60 million music and entertainment estate.
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